James Whitcombe and Piers O’Conor will make their competitive Edinburgh debuts as Sean Everitt’s side start the new URC season at Zebre on Saturday.
Scotland-qualified prop Whitcombe signed on a three-year deal from Leicester Tigers earlier this summer, while versatile back O’Conor arrived from Connacht on a two-year deal.
Advertisement
Magnus Bradbury captains the side from number eight, while Lions duo Pierre Schoeman and Duhan van der Merwe are both named on the bench.
Edinburgh finished seventh in the URC last season under Everitt, losing to Bulls in the quarter-finals.
“I think everyone’s raring to go,” Everitt said.
“It’s been a long pre-season, it’s been nine weeks, the guys have played two games now and we can’t wait to start. We’re all looking forward to it and excited about what it might bring.
Advertisement
“I think we’re well equipped if you look at the amount of hours we’ve spent on the training pitch, particularly over the last four to five weeks because we’ve been able to train really well with the numbers that we’ve had.
“We got a lot of 15 v 15 training so everyone is well equipped. We’ve got two new caps this week which is exciting for them but the rest of the team have all played together before.”
Edinburgh side to face Zebre: Goosen, Paterson, O’Conor, Lang, Brown, Healy, Vellacott; Whitcombe, Ashman, Hill, Sykes, Gilchrist, McConnell, Crosbie, Bradbury.
Replacements: Harrison, Schoeman, Rae, Skinner, Watson, Shiel, Thomson, Van der Merwe.
